Thorough removal of debris from various flooring materials such as carpet can be a challenging task. Dry vacuuming can remove a portion of debris such as soil, etc.; however, a large portion of such material remains embedded within carpet fibers. A wide variety of mechanisms have been developed to provide additional cleaning such as shampoo processed, steam cleaning, soil absorption such as bonnet cleaning, soil extraction such as chemical cleaning done by ChemDry® and others, host cleaning where a particulate cleaning agent is dispersed and then vacuumed, and encapsulation using a crystalline cleaning agent. Each of these processes provides benefits ranging from cost, well established performance and market, and simplicity. However, most, if not all, current approaches within each area also suffer from various drawbacks such as excess water, extended dry times, chemical residue build-up, and/or poor soil removal.
Conventional wisdom in cleaning carpets is to clean deep and penetrate the carpet fibers to remove soil and debris. However, this often leaves excessive water remaining in the carpet which results in extended dry times. Further, chemical treatments typically leave at least a portion of the chemical in the carpet, often resulting in unacceptable residue build-up over time. Most chemical treatments are limited to cleaning the top quarter portion of the carpet piles, leaving the remainder substantially uncleaned. Some shampoo treatments and steam cleaning processes clean deeper into the carpet pile, but leave substantial amounts of water which can take as much as twelve hours or more to completely dry.
U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0255028 discloses a rotary cleaning device having a plurality of flush pad extractors that provide improved debris removal and reduced residual material. More specifically a rotary cleaning device can include a plurality of flush pad extractors which are oriented generally circumferentially about a common rotation axis. These unique flush pad extractors can include a fluid applicator and a vacuum member oriented behind the fluid applicator such that during operation of the device the fluid applicator contacts a surface to be cleaned prior to contact by the vacuum member.
The closest known prior art is shown in FIG. 1. A cleaning head 100 is made by Sapphire Scientific Co. Each wash water nozzle 101 has a spray pattern 102 characterized by a stream directed toward the centers of the cleaning head denoted 102A and a stream directed outbound from the center denoted 102B.
These nozzles 101 do not contact the rug. Following behind each nozzle 101 is a vacuum suction bar 103 having inlets 104. The vacuum suction bars 103 rest on the rug and support the weight of the applicator, wherein the U.S. Pub. No. 2012/0054981 and its applicator, cleaning device 10, is incorporated herein by reference. There is a spinning motor, a vacuum motor and a pressure source for the wash water.
Thus, the vacuum suction bar 103 brushes or agitates the rug and removes the excess wash water. Each vacuum suction bar 103 has a peripheral baffle 105 that has a leading tapered head 106. This tapered head 106 allows the cleaning head 100 to pass over obstacles such as an extension cord. Each peripheral baffle 105 extends down from the base B of the cleaning head 100 to block some of the spray pattern stream 102B. Thus, more of the wash water spray pattern 102 remains under the cleaning head 100.
The approximate length of the vacuum inlets 104 is 3.5 inches. This prior art device still leaves excess wash water on the rug, and the drying period can be a full day long.
As such, improved processes and systems which can be used to enhance deep cleaning of flooring materials such as carpet without leaving excessive water or chemical residue, and which are also economic, continue to be sought through ongoing development efforts.